Cost of living comparison

Harare, Zimbabwe

compared to

Vientiane, Laos

Vientiane vs. Harare Cost of Living Summary

Vientiane is 20.4% more expensive than Harare.

Restaurants: pay 42.7% less in Vientiane
Groceries: pay 1.6% more in Vientiane
Transportation: pay 8.9% less in Vientiane
Housing: pay 59.3% more in Vientiane
Childcare: pay 24.8% more in Vientiane
Entertainment and Sports: pay 32.1% less in Vientiane
Clothing: pay 2.4 times more in Vientiane

The cost of clothing, housing, childcare, and groceries in Vientiane are more expensive than in Harare. Expenses including restaurants, entertainment and sports, and transportation are lower in Vientiane. Notably, clothing is significantly more expensive in Vientiane.

Vientiane vs. Harare Cost Breakdown

If you lived in Vientiane instead of Harare, you would:

Display currency: USD

pay 42.7% less for restaurants

	Harare	Vientiane
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$9.00 ZWL2,898.00	$1.98 LAK42,875	-78.0%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$5.50 ZWL1,771.00	$2.97 LAK64,312	-45.9%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$0.74 ZWL236.90	$0.53 LAK11,434	-28.1%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$0.52 ZWL167.52	$0.42 LAK9,148	-18.7%
Average			-42.7%

Harare vs. Vientiane - Cost of restaurants

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pay 1.6% more for groceries

	Harare	Vientiane
Bread 1 loaf	$1.01 ZWL324.64	$0.91 LAK19,722	-9.5%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$4.88 ZWL1,572.43	$13.72 LAK296,651	+180.9%
Milk (1 gallon)	$6.09 ZWL1,960.22	$6.42 LAK138,829	+5.5%
Eggs 1 dozen	$2.18 ZWL700.35	$1.75 LAK37,857	-19.5%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$2.86 ZWL919.99	$2.95 LAK63,810	+3.3%
Apples (1 lb)	$1.35 ZWL435.59	$0.88 LAK19,071	-34.8%
Bananas (1 lb)	$0.76 ZWL244.28	$0.49 LAK10,646	-35.1%
Oranges (1 lb)	$1.01 ZWL325.75	$0.92 LAK19,968	-8.7%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$0.83 ZWL266.25	$0.60 LAK12,885	-27.9%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$0.64 ZWL204.77	$0.73 LAK15,698	+14.2%
Onions (1 lb)	$0.94 ZWL302.06	$0.46 LAK9,906	-51.2%
Average			+1.6%

Harare vs. Vientiane - Cost of groceries

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pay 8.9% less for transportation

	Harare	Vientiane
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$6.10 ZWL1,964.49	$5.00 LAK108,212	-18.0%
Monthly public transit pass	$42.50 ZWL13,685.00	$49.23 LAK1,064,677	+15.8%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$25,000.00 ZWL8,050,000.00	$28,330.27 LAK612,642,077	+13.3%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$21.00 ZWL6,762.00	$11.18 LAK241,815	-46.8%
Average			-8.9%

Harare vs. Vientiane - Cost of transportation

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pay 59.3% more for housing

	Harare	Vientiane
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$119.22 ZWL38,389.56	$11.17 LAK241,611	-90.6%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$367.86 ZWL118,450.00	$859.15 LAK18,579,164	+133.6%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$283.33 ZWL91,233.33	$775.98 LAK16,780,509	+173.9%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$45.12 ZWL14,527.88	$54.31 LAK1,174,415	+20.4%
Average			+59.3%

Harare vs. Vientiane - Cost of housing

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pay 24.8% more for childcare

	Harare	Vientiane
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$261.43 ZWL84,180.00	$332.66 LAK7,193,766	+27.2%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$7,562.50 ZWL2,435,125.00	$9,252.41 LAK200,083,301	+22.3%
Average			+24.8%

Harare vs. Vientiane - Cost of childcare

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pay 32.1% less for entertainment and sports

	Harare	Vientiane
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$1.50 ZWL483.00	$0.95 LAK20,514	-36.8%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$3.14 ZWL1,012.00	$1.50 LAK32,342	-52.4%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$1.38 ZWL442.75	$1.59 LAK34,300	+15.4%
Monthly membership at local gym	$63.64 ZWL20,490.91	$49.74 LAK1,075,594	-21.8%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$10.00 ZWL3,220.00	$3.50 LAK75,772	-65.0%
Average			-32.1%

Harare vs. Vientiane - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 2.4 times more for clothing

	Harare	Vientiane
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$18.89 ZWL6,082.22	$85.86 LAK1,856,658	+354.5%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$23.89 ZWL7,692.22	$62.88 LAK1,359,750	+163.2%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$36.67 ZWL11,806.67	$57.29 LAK1,238,844	+56.2%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$45.91 ZWL14,782.73	$41.48 LAK896,948	-9.7%
Average			+141.1%

Harare vs. Vientiane - Cost of clothing

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The statistics used to build this comparison are calculated using data from users just like you. We average the price of thousands of data points entered by users across the world. Learn more about our data sources. Page last updated: April 2025

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See the cost of living in Zimbabwe vs. Laos. This provides a comparison of the average cost of living from cities within Zimbabwe and Laos.

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